Is Lemon the New Miracle Weight Loss Drug?

 Simply put, no. We’ve all heard the talk about what lemons can do to help with weight loss.  Yes, it’s true, drinking a lot of water helps people lose weight more quickly, but not through any miracle. There are many benefits to adding lemon to your water, but it’s more complicated than increasing your lemon intake to lose weight.  

A popular myth about lemon juice is that it will burn or dissolve fat. “Lemon juice is a nutritious and tasty addition to meals or drinks, but does not perform miracles when it comes to reducing or burning fat.” (Source: fitday.com) Drinking a lot of water with lemon will help with weight loss in several ways, but not by dissolving fat on your plate or in your body.

Lemon juice is an effective detox for the body. It serves a liver cleanser. This detoxing not only purges your body of toxins, but it can help you curb your cravings. Not having these unhealthy cravings means you are less likely to feed your cravings in unhealthy ways. Consuming less unhealthy food=weight loss.

Additionally, lemon juice also serves as a digestive aid. It has been said that drinking a lemon tea in the morning helps a sluggish digestive system. When your body is digesting food effectively, you’re less likely to hold onto the toxins in the food you consume. Water does this naturally, but the lemon juice added to it increases the effectiveness.

Something to consider; adding lemon to your water may help you increase your water intake. Better hydration helps by increasing your digestion and detoxing, even without the lemon. The lemon seems to make it easier for a lot of people to drink more water.

People have their own reasons for adding lemon to their water. Whether it is for increased detoxing, digestive help, or craving control, getting more water into your body is a good thing for weight loss. Some say it has even helped them with appetite control, which is a big thing for a lot of people looking to lose weight.  Whatever your reason, give lemon in water a try.

For more information about hydration and water consumption, read my hydration blog entry.

Cinnamon

If you're like me, you didn't know cinnamon actually had health benefits. You'd sprinkle it on apples, into some dishes. etc., and all the while doing yourself a favor. There have been many studies about the benefits of cinnamon on the body. There are two different types of cinnamon sold; cinnamomum zeylanicum nees or cinnamomum cassia (L.) blume. The cinnamon commonly found in the grocery store is cinnamomum cassia. In my search, I found many different "dosage" suggestions. The most common is 1/4 teaspoon taken twice daily.

Benefits to cinnamon:

• cinnamon may have a regulatory effect on blood sugar (cassia cinnamon)
• cinnamon can have antioxidant effects
•  cinnamon can have the ability to stop medication-resistant yeast infections
• cinnamon can have an anti-clotting effect on the blood
• Those who combined cinnamon with one tablespoon of honey every morning before breakfast had significant relief in arthritis pain. (study at Copenhagen University)
• cinnamon can inhibit bacterial growth and food spoilage
• smelling cinnamon can boost cognitive function and memory
• cinnamon can fight the E. coli bacteria in unpasteurized juices 
• cinnamon is a source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium
• cinnamon may improve cholesterol levels

What are the risks of taking cinnamon? (webmd.com)

• Side effects. Cinnamon usually causes no side effects. Heavy use of cinnamon may irritate the mouth and lips, causing sores. In some people, it can cause an allergic reaction. Applied to the skin, it might cause redness and irritation.
• Risks. Very high quantities of cassia cinnamon may be toxic, particularly in people with liver problems. Because cinnamon may lower blood sugar, people with diabetes may need to adjust their treatment if they use cinnamon supplements. People who have cancer that’s affected by hormone levels, like breast cancer, should not take cinnamon. An ingredient in some cinnamon products, coumarin, may cause liver problems. Given the lack of evidence about its safety, cinnamon -- as a treatment -- is not recommended for children or for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
• Interactions. If you take any medicines regularly, talk to your doctor before you start using cinnamon supplements. They could interact with medicines like antibiotics, diabetes drugs, blood thinners, heart medicines, and others.

Serving Sizes

"Supersize me." I don't think so! From what I've read in my research for various posts I am working on, it's just as important to be aware of how much we eat, as it is to be aware of what we eat.

We've all heard, "only eat the appropriate serving size and you won't over eat." Well just exactly how much is that? You read in a previous post about how much of your daily food intake should be of what foods. The new Choose My Plate program is extremely useful, but we need more visuals to help us understanding just how much is enough. I mean, who's going to measure everything they eat? Are you? Me either. Take a look at the chart below. Are you eating the right amount of foods?

 

 For another really great visual go to Portion Visuals from Virgina Public Schools.

I highly recommend spending some time perusing the Choose My Plate website.  The healthy eating resources are endless. Honestly, there is just too much there for me to ever share.

 

Sources

I've decided to compile a list of the websites where I seek knowledge on living a healthy livestyle. Keep in mind, some I trust, some I just use for anecdotal information. When researching, use good judgement. Know the source of the information.

This list will be expanding as I find and use more sources I like. If you have a source you like, please let me know by commenting below.

http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/
http://health.gov/
http://www.about.com/#!/explore-topics/
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/
http://www.health.com/health/
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource
http://www.mayoclinic.com/ 
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/
http://www.vdh.state.va.us/
http://www.webmd.com

Eating Right Guidelines

Who remembers the four food groups? It's okay, you don't have to tell, as I know that would give a clue as to your age.  Pretty easy to remember right? 
     (1) meats, poultry, fish, dry beans and peas, eggs, and nuts;
     (2) dairy products, such as milk, cheese, and yogurt;
     (3) grains; and
     (4) fruits and vegetables





Then there was the pyramid. Not so easy to remember, but the graphic explained what you needed in terms of portions in relation to the other groups. I think this graphic were everywhere. You couldn't miss it. 



            Look familiar?


Now, we have My Plate. If I'm reading it correctly, it's about enjoying your food with portion control. Makes sense. Oh, and the graphic changed again.  Expect to see this everywhere you go...





My pre-school son has even brought home art projects around this graphic.  Teaching them early, good idea. I plan on spending some time scouring through the website to learn more. www.choosemyplate.gov is a good resource.  Be sure, when you check it out for yourself, you play with the "Get a personalized plan" feature. It's very cool.

Getting to know me a bit better.

I'm not really sure what to write about today. I have so many things I want to learn about and share, but I just can't seem to get myself organized today. Have you ever had one of those days? Perhaps it was the unexpected snow on my car this morning, or the full moon that just passed, or...who knows? Whatever it is, I'm just feeling the need to journal instead of research and share.

This seems like a good time to share a bit about my past, present and where I want my future to go, health wise. Give my readers, those of you who aren't my mother, a chance to get to know me personally a bit more.

At age 16

As a teenager, I was relatively active. Active in that I pretty much walked everywhere I went. Well, until I got a car and license. I wasn't fat, but I felt like I was huge. Typical teenager, I suppose. As a young adult, I didn't pay much attention to my weight, until after I had my first child. I was horrified when my weight went above 200 pounds, but not motivated enough to do anything about it. Thinking back, if I had done something about it then, I might be in a different place now.

My weight went up and down from 160-200 over the next few years. I never really spent any time exercising or worrying about what I ate. At least not with any consistency. In 2003 I had another baby. My weight went back up over 200 pounds and pretty much stayed there. In 2006 I had my third child. After his birth, my weight was about 235 pounds. This was the heaviest I have ever been.

May 2011                                       February 2007

In 2006, I not only had my third child, but I was diagnosed with breast cancer and went through chemo and radiation. The doctors told me I would probably end up losing weight because of the chemo treatments. If I hadn't been so determined to not be sick from the chemo, which I really wasn't, this probably would have been true. After my treatments I was still in the high 220's. I was healthy in that I didn't have cancer, but I wasn't healthy with the rest of my life. I was eating unhealthy food and not getting any exercise.

At this point I wasn't happy with how thing were going with my health overall. After a long discussion about this with some close friends, I incorporated some exercise into my life. I started with Beachbody's Power 90. After some time, I added in Beachbody's Brazil Butt Lift. I worked out 6 days a week with the Beachbody programs and with kickboxing and water aerobics at the gym and got down to 179. Needless to say, I was very happy with the progress I was seeing. I was feeling better and looking better.
 

As things tend to happen in life, I fell off the healthy wagon. I can't pinpoint an exact reason, but I stopped working out with any regularity and stopped focusing on what I was eating. That was in mid 2010.

Since then, I have been working out on and off and eating healthy on and off. I am learning to get back to my healthy lifestyle. This blog is part of that. Learning and sharing, and having my readers keep me accountable. This is it. It's do time. I'm back to eating healthy and making smart choices with my life. The next step is rejoining a class at the gym and resuming my workouts with my Beachbody programs and maintaining regularity.

Welcome to my journey to Healthy Living.

Resolutions and Goals

I have lots planned for 2012. Lots I want to do, share, and accomplish. I think the easiest way to share my resolutions and goals is to simply put together a list. So, here goes...

1. Keep up with this blog
2. Learn something new everyday
3. Push myself out of my comfort zone
4. Eat a little bit healthier than the day before
5. Exercise at least 30 minutes, 5-6 days a week
6. Be an Emerald Beachbody coach by Jan 30th
7. Have an Emerald coach under me by March 15th
8. Connect with friends more often
9. Read more
10. Take care of my feet (for my mom)

Do you make resolutions this year? It's ten days into the new year, have you stuck to them?